Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-08-19

suggest that Howard had killed himself.
Dob WAS suspected of having q hand Ia
the tragedy, bit nothing was ever Ger
tainly known about il, nor probably never
will be.
At ell events, Howard was gone.
though not until he had, as i. were,
opened the door fer the others 20 enter
and shortly afterwards, SAevelir being on
duty, Doobs and Hope We're admitted to
the bsnb, and made trial of Towards
prescription upon the lock CT the vault.
It worked ike charm the heavy doors
swung back and the two burglars stood
for the first time within few inches of
boundless wealth. But those few incnes
were harder to traverse than SIS many
thousand miles Of ordinary obstacles. for
they consisted Of solid steel. But Hope
and Dobbs had only come on S prospect
irg expedition; they made an estimate of
the time il would take TO open the safes
siter having got into the vault, snd then
retired, satlsdedthat the jCb was feasible
But at this jCncture e fAtsl mish2p &C.
Cured.
1t had been t3eir intention 10 return
the tumblers of the lock to their proper
position by the same wire with which
they had thrown them back sud and then
to conceal the hole with putty. But by
su unluckY slip one q the tumDlers wgs
turned in the wrong direction, so that,
although tie door was locked fast enough,
i, wDuld De impossible for the cashier TO
open it the mex morning by the combine
ton. On such Slight chances 90 mo-
meutus events turn. Dobbs and Hope at
once perceived that the misplaced tumbIer
would draw the attention of the bank 10
what had occurred, and that it would be
useless to attempt anything further for 2
long while 10 come, if ever. 4 supersti-
tious mind might have fancied that
the ghost of the murdered Howard had
something 70 do with the calamity.
But the bank, IS the resder already
knows, did not attach so much impor-
lance to the unexplained hole under the
combination plate as the burglars had
imagined they would, and after sn inter
val of less than g year Sheyeiin once
more found himself the object OF hatter-
ing solicitations. As he was taking 6
quiet glass st @ table in Third avenue
lager beer saloon ore evening he wss &C
ccsted by Jimmy Hope, and the old topic
YVES TeOpened. Jimmy Hope was then a.
the height of his reputation and activity.
He devoted himself exclusively to bank
[
dead, he was the admitted head OF
the profession. He was 9 rather short
man, c0mpactly built, and having the aD-
pearsrCe of q prosperous merchant. Like
most thieves he was leading double
life, having wife and children in one
part of the city, while he occupied 8
fashionable apartment fiat in another, and
wgs known there, to an 6dmiring circle of
fria
talIst.
Hope informed Shevelin that the hour
and tae men were ct hand to actually &C
comp.ish the great robbery. The dra-
mats person in this case were to be
Hope himself snd mis- son, college bred
youth of twentv-three, with fine future
before him; Billy Kelly, personal
/ friend Of SAeveIin's, brisk and genial
! young fellow, who alternated the
vocation Of bartender wi that of
/ highway roDber; Pete Emmerson, other
wise BapiO Pete, formerly the star Of b
niger minstrel troupe, but now prOmOt-
| ed to the brevet rank of safe burglar; Ed
I G0odie, the distinguished inventor and
practiCer of the butcher cart robbery bus
mess, the most mysterious and retiCent
/ Of sll New Y OIk thieves; and, finally, Ohm
Nugent, who was apolice officer in good
standing, and valuable not only as g di-
rect helper in the Job but as an unsus-
pected spy upon the operations CT the
authorities. Take it altogether, such 8
/ galaxy Of talent had never before been
| assembled in the metropolis; emo, profit
/ ing by psst experiences, it was impossible
/ they shouldfail. "And if we get the stuff,
/ Patrick concluded Mr.. Hope, impress
siyely, ''your share Of it will be Just g
! quarter Of q million dollars. And that's
more than S % day"
The bribe Was certainly 8 splendid one,
such as very few persons have enjoyed
the opportunity of refusing. As for
Shevelin, be accepted tin anticipation
without any hsGgling. Two hundred
and fifty thousand dollars was good
enough for him, and he did not care how
soon be got his hands upon it. Several
othe s interviews were held with HOPE 10
complete the arrangements.
A. lergth g date was fixed upon, Sunday
morning, October q, Kelly would go
of duty at 6; and in the ordinary course
Of things, it would be Shevelin's dirty to
relieve him, but Hope decided that sus-
piCion would be averted If Shevelin alb
sented himself on this particular occa-
sion, eDjoining upon Kelly be-
forehand, TO call Werkle to take
his place. This plan would relieve Sheve-
lin from the chance of direct collision
while es for Werkle, he should be gagged
and handCuffed before he could leave his
bedroom; and the vault entered by means
of the keys and the combination which
the anitor WAS to be forced to surrender.
This was an even more expeditions plsn
than to drill hole into the lock and IN
asmuCh as they could not count on more
than fifty minutes, the consideration was
an important one. The event proved that
ten minutes longer might have meant to
the thieves an addition of hundred per
cent. to their booty. If the visit toWerkle
could have been dispensed with, and the
time expended with him employed upon
the door of the other safe, the t0tal gain
of the burglars would have reached the
enormous total of NJ arly SIX million dol
lars. But all luck has it limits, and
Jimmy Hopes was destined to stop short
Of the three million mark.
On the appointed morning, every man
was at his post; and long before the IN
suspecting Kelly he'd tumbled into bed,
the ianitor had been terrorized, the vault
opened, and the safes attacked Mean
wnile an imitation Werkle, dressed in g
linen cost and pair Of long side 1hisk-
ers, was provided in the person of one
Abe Coakley, subordinate member of
the gang, and he played his part, as we
have seen, with admirable discretion and
effect. While Hope and Goodie were
TOO rip ara 4Ia y,